


Hair and Fringe

by BunanTsokolatte



Series: Isobel Shepard [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Hair, Hair-pulling, Human, Interspecies, Interspecies Awkwardness, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Little Black Dress, Loyalty, Mindoir, Porn, Romance, Shakarian - Freeform, Turians, sake
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 14:52:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2233080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunanTsokolatte/pseuds/BunanTsokolatte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garrus sees Shepard with her hair down for the first time as she's dressed up to help Kasumi.</p><p>At one moment, Shepard approaches Garrus's fringe with curiosity. In another, she knows exactly what she's doing.</p><p>Takes place in and just after ME2 (friendship to relationship). Will be a two-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hair and Fringe

**Author's Note:**

> Over time, since I started "Mass Effect," I've had ideas for Garrus and Shepard noticing and exploring characteristics that differ slightly between their species (just physical ones, so far). This is the first of those ideas with an oh-so-original title. /vomits sarcasm :P (The next will probably be lips and mouth plates.) A two-shot with the first part revolving around one species's characteristic and the second part focusing on the other species's counterpart. I hope you enjoy it. :)

“Is this getup really necessary?” Shepard asked tiredly, tugging at the bottom of the short black dress only to frown at the skin of her breasts that revealed themselves in the process.

“Well, we’re not exactly going to get into a high society party with you wearing N7 armor, are we?” Kasumi said, leaning against the doorframe to the bathroom. “Besides, you look good. You should wear these kinds of clothes more often.”

“The whole reason I don’t is because I feel so exposed,” Shepard mumbled, disgruntled. “And these heels are so hard to walk in,” she continued, experimentally planting a few steps in the damned contraptions and cringing at the teetering balance her boots so graciously lacked.

“You’re Commander Shepard. I’m sure if you can save the galaxy, you can walk in heels. Besides, we’ll have your armor at the venue. I’ll debrief you about it on the way. Finish up and I'll be in the CIC.” With that, Kasumi walked out the doors and Shepard heard the elevator hum start up and disappear.

Shepard walked into the bathroom to take a look at herself. It was strange to see herself all dolled up like this. The last time she had to dress so glamorously was when she was eighteen and her foster sister begged to take her out for her birthday. Lost in images of her foster sister’s bright face and bouncy blonde curls, she absently reached for her hair tie in its normal corner on the sink to tie her hair up in her usual bun only to find her fingers groping at the cold surface. With an unamused brow raised, she bent to look beneath the sink. No hair tie.

“I could’ve sworn I left it here,” she muttered to herself in annoyance. “No one else—“

 _Except Kasumi,_ her mind finished for her before she even got to the middle of the sentence, remembering the lithe Japanese woman standing in there only a moment ago. _Why the hell--_ she shook her head and sighed in disbelief. Only a woman like herself would spend time grieving over the loss of a hair tie while a suicide mission was at stake.

With reluctance, she picked up her brush and looked at herself as she brushed all the bun-waved hair from front to back, leaving her face free and all of her long locks cascading towards her back. She studied her reflection, shaking her head a little to get used to the feeling of having all of her hair flowing rather than tight and secure on her head. She rubbed her arms and inner thighs up and down, feeling a little chilly and drafty in places she wasn’t used to. She wasn’t looking forward to the crew’s reactions of her baring so much skin and secretly hoped less people were at the Combat Information Center than usual. Particularly Garrus. She wasn’t sure how the turian whose opinion mattered most to her would take the sight of a human, much less her, dressed this way. Briefly, she reassured herself that he would be in the Battery as always, doing whatever calibrations that were still somehow needed after how much time on the Normandy.

Giving her doppelganger’s eyes a determined, lavender stare, she took a deep breath through her nose and out of her mouth and tried to put on her usual strut that could hopefully pass as looking normal and comfortable as she took tentative steps in her black high heels towards the elevator.

~~~

“Really, Garrus, I don’t have to leave the cockpit to know that the cannon isn't the only thing you're calibrating in the Battery,” Joker said, turning away from the controls in front of him momentarily to roll his eyes at his turian acquaintance.

“Joker, really, I don’t need any vids,” Garrus said for the umpteenth time, palming his forehead in one hand and trying to remember how he even got the dubious honor of gaining Joker as a porn benefactor.

“Mr. Moreau has an extensive collection spanning across various genres, Officer Vakarian,” EDI informed Garrus. “Given your most recent extranet searches, I believe the ‘vids’ featuring male turian and human female couples will best benefit your research.”

Joker met Garrus’s wide blue eyes and fallen jaw with smugly raised eyebrows and a smirk. “Finally looking to smooth the moves on the commander, eh Garrus?”

Garrus quickly turned away. “Nothing like that,” he replied quickly, forcing his voice to be steady even if his heart wasn’t. “I was just refreshing my memory on human weak spots. I was beginning to get rusty on Omega. Needed to make sure I got them all straight.”

“Uh huh,” Joker replied dryly, his amused gaze unchanging.

The pilot, the gunnery officer, and the AI turned their attention to the sound of a small female chorus echoing from the elevator. The door opened but whoever was stepping out was obscured by Kasumi, Miranda, Jack, and Kelly who were chatting at the yeoman’s station only a moment before.

“Wow, Commander! Aren’t you a babe?” Kelly flirted.

Shepard froze like a deer in headlights, her light purple eyes wide at the audience before her. She sighed and cupped her forehead in her hand. “Why are you all here? You’re never here.”

“Kelly thought it best to have a session with both Jack and I in order to strengthen our rapport for your mission, Commander,” Miranda answered. “We were just finishing up.”

“Yeah, and the cheerleader is still bending over for the Illusive Man,” Jack commented sarcastically. “Big surprise.” She turned her gaze towards Shepard, giving her a quick look-over. “Not bad, Shepard. It looks like you actually have tits,” Jack commented cheekily.

“I feel less dressed than an asari dancer,” Shepard mumbled, discreetly trying to pull down the skirt down a couple more inches over her bare legs.

“You really do look ravishing though, Shepard,” Miranda said. “The dress was a good choice on Kasumi’s part.”

“I have a good eye for these kinds of things,” Kasumi said, shrugging.

“Yes, nice, thank you,” Shepard interjected loudly. “Everybody back to your posts. I'm going to give Joker some instructions before we leave,” she ended before she began to make the long stride to the airlock.

“Yes, Commander Hot Stuff,” Jack mock saluted as Shepard walked away.

It was then that the three occupying the cockpit saw who all the fuss was over. Garrus looked on in silent awe, his mandibles clamped tightly against his face. His azure eyes drunk in the sight of Shepard, dressed completely different from her typical casual wear. Everyone else’s hair on the ship was short and he hadn’t given much thought to the solid bun that usually crowned her head. But when he saw it cascade in those long tresses, longer than any that he’d seen on any human, he was fascinated by its flow and shine and he had to stop himself from meeting her halfway just to feel it.

Even more so for her legs, which were normally covered by her tight military uniform, which could be bad enough. But now that he knew those long, muscular, creamy limbs were underneath, his fantasies of her could only worsen. He didn’t even want to start with the gentle but strong curve of her bare shoulders, let alone her backside and the mounds of chest that all human women and asari bore. Watching them pressed together and forming that…cleavage, yes, that’s what it was called…it was framed like a picture enclosed in the borders of the thick straps, the sweetheart neckline, and the silver adornment beneath her neck.

Shepard approached him, her posture rigid and tense. Her eyes glinted in the light of the piloting panels and the anxious grimace stuck on her face quirked up quickly into a smirk when she saw him. “Hey, Garrus.”

“Shepard,” he greeted back, straightening up.

“Well, well, WELL, Commander!” Joker greeted in his own way. “What party are you going to and how come you didn’t invite your favorite pilot?”

“I can’t risk the chance of you recording this event, Joker,” Shepard responded.

“You mean making an ass out of yourself in front of all the fancy guests?” At Shepard’s glare, he sighed, “Alright, fine, I’ll ask Kasumi to do it. I’m telling you, it’ll go viral!”

“The dress looks very presentable on you, Shepard,” EDI commented. “It fits you nicely. I had read online that with such a tight style that some women forego undergarments entirely in exchange for a smooth, aesthetic texture. Are you practicing this tonight, Shepard?”

Shepard hid her face in one hand to hide her burning face, for which Garrus was grateful in that he did not have to hide his reflexive glance to her hips and then his immediate look away as he gulped. “I’ll explain that practice to you later, EDI.”

“Aww c’mon, Commander!” Joker whined. “It can be a cockpit secret!”

“Garrus!” she interjected louder than intended, attempting to cut off more awkward conversation. “How are you doin’?”

“Just fine, Shepard. You look, uh…different.” The word was out before Garrus could think of the right one. “Good different!” he corrected himself quickly. “Nice different. Very nice.”

Shepard’s face seemed to genuinely relax as her embarrassed scowl melted into a bright smile. “Thanks, Garrus.” She sighed. “I hate these kinds of missions,” she mumbled begrudgingly.

“And what kind would those be, Shepard?” Garrus questioned.

“Missions where I have to work what few feminine wiles I have in order to get something done. Makes me feel dirty and just…not myself.”

Garrus chuckled. It always intrigued him to peel back the layers of his short-tempered, ruthless best friend of a commander and see these new sides of her. He had to wonder what this 'lack of feminine wiles' was about, though. Whatever amount of feminine wiles she had was working on him.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, Shepard. Besides, if I know you like I do, you’ll just shoot up the place if those wiles don’t work in your favor.”

Shepard laughed, and Garrus noted how her shoulders didn’t seem to be as close to her ears as they were a moment ago. “Ain’t that the truth…” she sighed. “I should go. Gotta do this mission before I catch a cold in this dress,” she quipped. “Joker, Kasumi and I will be taking the shuttle. Be nearby and--”

“So the usual drill,” Joker said. “Got it. We’ll pray for you!” Joker called to her as she began walking back to the elevator to head to the hangar.

“Asshole!” she yelled back.

Joker looked up at Garrus, gauging his reaction. The turian’s eyes were wide and his mandibles locked tight to his jaw as he studied the shape of his commander’s backside, gleaming in the sleek, black material.

Joker smirked cheekily, satisfied at his turian friend’s face, and turned back to his console.

“Joker,” Garrus addressed.

“Yeah?”

“About those vids…”

“Already a step ahead of you.”

~~~

It was late when Shepard and Kasumi returned, with the vital graybox of Kasumi's partner and lover intact. Shepard could understand why Kasumi would want to keep that graybox. She might've done the same if it were, say, the memories of her family on Mindoir. It was those memories, the happy ones, she was thinking of as they rode back to the Normandy in silence.

Shepard was seeing Kasumi back to her quarters when Kasumi perked up and said, “Shepard, come share a victory glass with me.”

“A victory glass of what?” Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Some quality sake I’ve been saving for this occasion,” Kasumi replied, pulling a big green bottle out of a case by her bed.

“You all right to drink that after all this stuff with Keiji?” Shepard asked tentatively, following her out of the Port Observation Deck to the kitchen. She hadn’t known Kasumi long and she wanted to make sure her typically warm but collected composure would stay intact if she drank, especially given the gravity of the mission they just completed.

“It’s only a glass or two,” Kasumi replied confidently as she examined the kitchen's appliances. “Besides, Keiji and I had been saving it for ourselves after a special occasion. I’d say this closure is perfect for that. Plus, it's the least I can do to thank you after helping me get the graybox back,” Kasumi said, smiling genuinely as she set the bottle down and pulled out a couple tiny glasses from behind the bar. “Sake’s better warm, I promise, but the Normandy doesn't exactly have anything ideal for warming this up. Well, other than you, I guess,” Kasumi said, giggling knowingly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shepard asked, unsure of whether this was going to head in a good or bad direction.

“That I did an excellent job of choosing that dress for you tonight. You attracted many a desiring eye.”

“Yeah, because I really wanted Hock staring at my ass at that party the entire time,” Shepard muttered, suppressing a disgusted shiver wanting to creep up her spine.

“I wasn’t referring to Hock,” Kasumi countered. “Garrus, was it? The one who’s always ‘calibrating’ in the Main Battery?” Kasumi clarified, nodding pointedly down the hall to where the door to said Battery was and quirking her fingers into air quotes when she said ‘calibrating.’

Shepard turned her head to hide her widened eyes. “We’re just friends,” she said quickly, trying to mask her embarrassment with a laugh.

Kasumi scoffed. “But will be more soon, right? I know those kinds of feelings when I see them.” Kasumi opened the bottle and began pouring the sake into the small glasses. “I say go for it,” Kasumi continued. “It’s obvious that he cares a lot about you.”

It was Shepard’s turn to scoff. “Yeah, obvious. I trust Garrus more than anyone in else in this galaxy but I don’t think it goes beyond that.”

“Mmm,” Kasumi hummed knowingly, the hint of denial all too present in the commander’s words. “Well, once you come to your senses, don’t take too long. Word is he really likes you and a lot of people want to see you two together,” Kasumi offered, handing Shepard a glass of the stuff. “If there’s anything that this mission reminded me of, it’s that our time is short and we need to make the most out of it with those closest to us. I’m sure you’ve known that even before the Collectors and your gunnery officer.”

“Yeah…” Shepard admitted softly as images of gunfire, blood, screaming children, and sneering batarian faces flashed briefly through her mind.

“Thank you again, Commander,” Kasumi said raising her glass. “Cheers.”

Shepard brought herself out of the past and back into the kitchen. She offered Kasumi a small smile and raised her glass to the thief’s. “ _Kanpai_ ,” she replied, making Kasumi smile appreciatively as they lifted their glasses to their lips for a sip of the rice wine.

~~~

Garrus had tried so hard to focus on work but when he saw that the ping on his omnitool was the promised porn from Joker, it only made him think about his commander in that tight dress even more. When he got to the point where he was constantly making mistakes in his calculations, he resigned to sitting down and looking through some of these vids.

He had never watched any turian-human porn before but by the time he had gone through a couple of the vids, his cock was out his plates, hard and straining in his armor. A couple of them he found flat out ridiculous with the mounds of flesh on the women's chests being larger than planets and unyielding. Those ones kept making ridiculous faces he only imagined were _supposed_ to be seductive. But when he found one that had similar features to his commander, namely her long dark hair, he became much more intrigued.

The turian she was with was broad and shared his own fair complexion, with sharp white colony markings accentuating the lust in his features. Garrus watched as the two tangled tongues in a human kiss and he didn't expect the vision of what Shepard's tongue would feel like in his mouth to make his cock so stiff. He watched as the turian circled a finger down at a tiny pink nub between the girl's legs and how she groaned louder when he grasped a breast with the other hand, kneading it and flicking his thumb over the pink peak. He saw another finger down there dip into her center and Garrus gulped when he saw it _glistening_ , the turian porn star bringing the finger to his mouth to lick off her fluid. Usually turian men were the ones with the lubricant but if the self-lubricating ones of the human species were women...Garrus groaned audibly at the thought of how gloriously slick he and Shepard would feel together if they...

He watched the woman groan as the turian raked his fingers through her hair, the talons grazing her scalp. He felt his cock twitch when the woman's hair was tugged back so the turian could lick one long stripe up the column of her throat. If the skin on a human woman's head was anything like a turian's, feeling that skin prodded probably felt absurdly pleasurable. Next think he knew, the turian porn star had flipped his human partner onto her front. She got on her knees, pressing her round ass into the air, and the camera zoomed in on the turian teasing the wet pink folds there with his cock before he pressed inside. The pair groaned loudly and the turian began snapping his hips unrelentingly into the woman who began yelling too loud and too much for Garrus's taste. He raised a browplate, amused as the turian gathered up the woman's hair, pulling it like a rope to lift the woman's head up and plunge into her further.

It was at this point where Garrus's cock decided to strain against his armor even harder and Garrus had to quickly unlatch his codpiece to just rub one out and relieve all this tension he had pent up inside him.

After wiping himself off and cleaning up any droplets that fell onto the floor, he took a trip to the bathroom for a quick, cold shower. On the way back to the main battery, he found the same commander he had been fantasizing about standing by the kitchen counter in the mess with her head tilted back as she tossed back a cup of water. Garrus had to force himself to keep his feet moving, to not just stop and watch the motions of her throat as she gulped. The clip of that turian licking the human actress's neck flashed through his mind as he made his way towards her.

“How'd the mission go?” he asked, trying to sound as if he hadn't been imagining what her lips would feel like wrapped up in his mouth plates rather than the edge of her cup.

“Fine, once I got to the part where I was wearing armor again instead of a dress,” she replied. “My hair felt like it kept getting stuck in parts of my suit though. Couldn't find anything to keep it up with anywhere.”

Garrus chuckled and tried not to cringe, imagining parts of her hair being painfully tugged as they were stuck in the crevices of her hard suit. If it was a turian fringe being pulled like that, it would practically be an injury all on its own. “I have to admit, I've never seen a human with hair as long as yours. No wonder you keep it up like you normally do.”

“Yeah, the military trains humans with long hair to keep it out of their face,” Shepard explained. “They tell you to cut it or put it up. It’s a hassle keeping it up in a bun all the time but it works.”

Garrus filed the word 'bun' away in his lexicon revolving around strange human customs. “I would imagine it's easier if you just cut it. Why haven't you?” he asked. He fought down a shiver as he remembered gawking at Chakwas through the med bay window, snipping at the ends of Kelly’s hair with a small pair of scissors. He remembered fleeing back to the main battery, obsessively caressing his own fringe as if to make sure it was still there.

“I could, but...” Shepard began to answer but trailed off. For a moment, she became quiet. Garrus watched as she rotated the small sake glass with her fingertips, staring at the emptiness of it with softened lavender eyes as if lost in thought and trying to come up with an answer. Absently, she lifted a hand and inserted her fingers within her cleavage. For a split second, Garrus’s azure eyes widened and studied her chest before he turned away abruptly, coughing slightly. He tried to banish the curiosity as to what it would feel like to knead those soft mounds in his talons, to see if it was as pleasurable as that vid made it out to be. Squeezing them seemed like such an awkward motion but if it made her sigh…

She seemed not to have noticed as she pulled out a small object from its resting place between her breasts, pulling a chain from beneath her dress with it. She wriggled the chain from beneath the wide straps of her dress and gently guided it over her head and around her hair. She opened her hand to Garrus who observed the tiny object in her palm: a small oval made of copper with a slit opening wrapping around the edges.

“A hololocket?” Garrus stared at the small object in his palm before looking curiously at his commander who nodded towards it. On her signal, Garrus awkwardly pinned down the locket with a steady talon and pried it open with another inserted talon.

Out shot a stream of blue light, revealing six small figures posing for a portrait. The man and woman in the back row had faces that seemed to have begun showing the creases Garrus saw on Dr. Chakwas's face. The woman was a spitting image of Shepard with her face more gaunt and a thinner frame. Her hair fell just past her shoulders. The man shared Shepard's lavender eyes and wore a huge, teeth-bearing smile. Garrus saw all the figures, except for the older woman, shared the man's purple eyes. Two young children, a boy and a girl, were seated in front of the man and woman, their smiles wide and bright. A much older boy, a teenager to Garrus's eyes, with scruffy black hair stood next to the man. It was the girl of the same age standing next to the woman that caught Garrus's eye. She was more bright and fresh-faced and she lacked scars and the trademark crease between her eyes. But that long, dark hair and those bright, lavender eyes and sheepish smile gave it away that it was Shepard.

“I did cut my hair in the beginning but after awhile, I started to feel less like myself,” Shepard began again, breaking the silence. “I grew up with my mom sitting me down to brush it for me sometimes, especially when I was feeling down about something. And my dad liked how I resembled my mom when they first met with my long hair. So I grew it back out and resolved to just put it in a bun since.” She looked up at him and smirked, quipping, “Plus, I think it makes me look more ‘commanding.’”

The two shared a chuckle and Shepard looked back at the picture emitting from the hololocket, becoming lost in her younger face before it was lost to battle and nightmares, the face free from ghosts, scars, and age that marked her face for over a decade now. “I feel like if I don’t keep my hair, I won't see them, and I’ll forget why I started fighting in the first place. I don’t want to stray or forget why I make the decisions I do out there.”

“Mmm,” Garrus hummed in understanding, looking back at the Shepard's hologram family. Even with being as close to her as he was, she had never quite discussed her time on Mindoir with him until now. He was surprised at the big family she came from and could only imagine how hard it had been to lose all of them to batarian raiders. She was so young and, in a shy kind of way, happy here. He wondered what kind of girl she had been before the attack. In the corner of his eye, he tried to look at her face and ended up being distracted by the way the light shone on her hair.

“Do you want to touch it?” he heard from Shepard, interrupting his thoughts.

Garrus snapped towards her and swallowed thickly. Wait, touch what? He scrambled for the answer, “Your hair?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking at him as she waited for an answer.

“Sure.”

Garrus turned towards her and Shepard followed suit, looking at him as they stood next to the kitchen table. He felt his heart beating a bit faster in his chest staring at Shepard’s expectant face before him, those lavender eyes disarming him. Hesitantly, he lifted a hand up near her face. He gathered a thick lock by her ear and Shepard fought back a sigh as his talons grazed over the ridge of her ear and her cheek. She hoped he didn’t notice the shivers and goosebumps his fingers left in their wake.

Garrus sifted her hair between his fingers, examining how it hung over his fingers. He moved his fingers along to the tips of the locks and was embarrassed to admit how soft, silky, and amazing it felt as it ran over his thick skin. He watched as the hair fell from the weight as he reached the tips. The strands so effortlessly fell through his fingers, like fine sand or water; it made him want to sigh, how smoothly it felt as the locks dropped from his hand. Almost needing to stop himself, he slowly reached up for another lock to admire the sensation again.

Shepard watched Garrus as he explored the anomaly that was her hair. He was so fascinated by her locks that she stole a moment to study his face. His eyes were so focused, concentrated, his brow plates furrowed slightly. His jaw was shut tight and his mandibles were clamped to his face, a feature she often saw on him when he was locked on a particular task. She had seen that look on him before whenever he was working on the Mako (or the cannons now) or handling his sniper rifle, but this was the first time she had seen it so up close. It made her heart beat all the faster and she clenched her fist to stop herself from reaching up and stroking his scar, a reminder of how she had almost lost him (again). In that moment, she was thankful that human heartbeats couldn’t be felt in the hair if her attempts at controlling her erratic breathing and flushing face didn’t already give herself away. His face was so close, she could almost feel his breath...

The loud beep of a door opening nearby made them jump away from each other and they both turned to the men's bathroom doors where a crew member was whistling as he made his way back to his quarters. Shepard kept her gaze away from Garrus sheepishly, scratching at her head, while Garrus did the same, his gaze secretly flicking up to Shepard's flustered one as he scratched his face with a single talon.

“You know,” Garrus said, breaking the silence, “I haven’t observed many human women closely before, at least not until joining your crew. I’m not the greatest judge of their beauty. Turians often judge that by fringe or waists.” He finally looked up to meet her gaze, watching her eyebrow raise in curiosity as to where he was going with this. “But anyway, if it counts for anything, Shepard...I think you look...uh...pretty, with your hair down. Beautiful, actually. N-not that you don't look nice with your hair...like it normally is...but I've never seen your hair like this and...it's nice.”

Shepard felt her heart melt inside as she looked up at Garrus’s eyes, gleaming with sincerity. She felt her face fill with warmth and hoped that Garrus didn’t know what human blushing looked like. She also had to stifle the urge to laugh at him fumbling over his words.

The way she stared so longingly at him was disarming and inwardly, he began to panic, wondering if he had said the right thing or not. But then she smiled at him in that quiet way that made her purple eyes dance and twinkle and he felt his own heart swell. “Thank you, Garrus,” she said in a tone that, even with a lifetime of experience with the subtleties of subharmonics and two years of friendship with her, Garrus could not place. “I appreciate it.”

Garrus gave a relieved chuckle, glad that she was grateful for his awkwardly worded compliments, and turned to walk back to the Battery before he made even more of an ass of himself. But then Shepard called him back. “Hey, Garrus?”

“Yeah?” Garrus responded, turning around to look at his commander whose gaze was still locked on him. She was leaning forward slightly with her butt back against the counter top, her ankles crossed and one hand wringing at the other. Her head was inclined towards him but her gaze was down, that crease appearing between her brows. He had to admit, it was endearing seeing a shyer side of her. Perhaps, this is what he saw in her teenage face in that hololocket: a face, at least for the moment, free and unburdened.

“I’m thinking, it's been a while since we drank together. We should grab some beers...and maybe some dinner. Interested?” Shepard asked, putting on a tone of nonchalance and inwardly attempting to quell her quickly beating heart with this surge of newfound courage.

“Definitely, Shepard. I’d like that.”

Shepard smiled at him and turned to go to the elevator. She walked confidently, trying to suppress the stupid grin that was forcing itself onto her face. Before she went out of view, Garrus turned around for one last look at her in that dress and stifled a snicker as she stumbled in her heels and had to grab the wall for a moment to collect herself. He would have to find some more opportunities to see her like this.

~~~

Gardner liked to wake up early, making sure he had enough time to cook up some breakfast for the crew before most of them woke up. He always made sure to get a separate cup of coffee going for the commander in a small saucepan. She had picked up some of her preferred French roast beans the last time they had been on the Citadel. After a few times of Gardner seeing her in the kitchen making it herself, he offered to do it for her. One less thing for her to worry about, on top of all the other crap she had to do. Her coffee was done by the time he began chopping up vegetables for some omelets.

“Hey, Gardner. Can I get that coffee?” Gardner heard from across the kitchen counter.

Gardner took a quick moment to look over his shoulder and saw a wave of long-ish, dark hair. He scoffed and continued chopping his vegetable. “Hate to break it to you, but that's the commander's coffee there.”

“Ahem.”

Finally, Gardner decided to properly turn around and saw the familiar face of his commander, the bun that usually topped her head gone and instead replaced by long, dark chocolate locks tucked over one shoulder and spilling into the arms crossed over her chest. Her eyebrow was raised in amusement, her purple gaze glinting mischievously.

“Oh! Sorry, Commander,” Gardner said, immediately scrambling for a mug and trying to talk down his embarrassment. “Didn’t recognize you for a second there.” He poured her coffee quickly, dumping in the couple of sugar cubes and dash of creamer before handing her the cup.

“No worries, Gardner,” she said simply, smirking as she made her way to the CIC, leaving Gardner and other crew members she walked past to stare at their commander's change in routine.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Much thanks to my best friend, Steph, for looking this fic over for me. :)


End file.
